Friday, November 23, 2007

It may have been Thanksgiving last night and even though the Suarez's were putting up their Christmas tree, with Betty seeing dead people (OK, dead PERSON) and Wilhelmina at her witchiest, it certainly felt like Halloween. Starting off with a sleepless Betty spying Bradford's head in the refrigerator when she partakes in a midnight snack. He then appears decked out in beachwear standing in the kitchen. But he's actually not a ghost. "I'm the subconscious manifestation of your guilt," he tells Betty. Because, although she promised Bradford on his deathbed that she would be there for Daniel, she refuses to go back to Mode fearing that it will continue to change her--and not for the better.

At Bradford's funeral, attended by a shackled Claire wearing an orange jumpsuit, Wilhelmina shows up to "pay her respects." Claire trips her and she falls into the open grave. Standing over the hole with Daniel and Alexis, Claire tells Wilhelmina she's terminated from Mode and adds, "Rest in peace, bitch!" for good measure. But the wily Willie has an evil plan up her sleeve--a CD marked Medusa X and Marc along for the ride. "Is this going to be some sort of murder-suicide thing? Because Cliff and I have tickets to A Chorus Line tomorrow night..." says Marc nervously. But Wilhelmina replies, "We're not going to die. Mode is." And with that she inserts the CD into her PC and wipes clean the entire Mode computer network--including the ready to be printed January issue.

Henry is working overtime when it happens and he calls Betty who rallies the troops--even though she's no longer working for Mode. But then Wilhelmina sweeps in and sweeps out most of the Mode staff to come work for her magazine, Slater. Betty, Christina and even Amanda are not swayed by the promise of a fifteen percent raise, dental and cosmetic surgery benefits, and stay to help Daniel complete the issue. But Daniel is having a crisis of faith and Bradford shows up again in Betty's computer screen to urge her to lift Daniel's spirits. Which of course, she does--but Daniel feels the shoes he has to fill are too big--"I'm no Bradford Meade," he tells Betty. Betty tells him to start with a clean slate and revs Daniel up to get back to the issue at hand--saving the January issue.

One of the most important things missing is the cover photo featuring a wayward actress named Cameron who is currently in rehab. Daniel decides to break her out of rehab to re-shoot the cover--much to Betty's dismay. Meanwhile, Alexis needs to seduce the printer into pushing their deadline while they get the issue together again. Even Amanda's given a task--to come up with the "What's Hot" list. Given that she's Faye Summer's daughter, Amanda thinks this will be a breeze. But her idea is a flop and she's told, "You're no Faye Summers!" Alexis' plan hits a snag when the printer turns out to be a "little person." And cover girl Cameron demands drugs or alcohol before she'll come out of her dressing room.

Daniel almost gives Cameron alcohol but decides not to--which pisses off Cameron who storms out in a rage, but pleases Betty. Inspired by Betty's idea of a blank slate, he comes up with a somber black cover in memory of his late father. Even the manifestation of Betty's guilt, Bradford Meade, is impressed saying it's something he'd never have thought of. To which Betty replies, "Well, you're no Daniel Meade!" After a long heart-to-heart, Alexis manages to convince the printer to push the deadline and the issue is saved. Wilhelmina's magazine, however, is already in trouble. Her daddy refuses to fund her venture.

Hanging threads--Christina's husband's illness and the reignited storyline of Amanda's "Whose my Daddy?" search. Does this mean Willie starts a new "Whose my Sugar Daddy?" subplot in order to get her magazine up and running? Are we ever going to find out what the deal she made with the doctor was at the end of last week's show? And what happened to Bradford's suit?